Act Locally » February 19, 2014

The Unbearable Whiteness of Legalization

'Any changes in the War on Drugs will require continued organizing and agitation, because history has shown that one step forward has also resulted in two steps back [for] communities of color.'

More than half of all drug arrests are for marijuana-related offenses, according to a June 2013 study by the American Civil Liberties Union. So it was big news for drug-lawreform activists when, in January, legal sales of marijuana for recreational use commenced in Colorado. Thanks to a 2012 state ballot initiative, the drug will now be taxed and regulated like alcohol. Washington state is set to implement similar laws later this year, and nationwide, the tide of public opinion seems to be turning: An October 2013 Gallup poll found that a majority of Americans now support marijuana legalization. Many have hailed the easing of marijuana laws as a breakthrough in the fight to end the War on Drugs. But others are skeptical. David Simon, creator of the popular television show The Wire, suggested that marijuana reforms could actually set back broader efforts, telling an audience in London last summer, “I want the [drug war] to fall as one complete edifice. If they manage to let a few white middle-class people off the hook, that’s very dangerous.” While voters in the relatively white states of Colorado and Washington have backed reform, it still looks a long way off in states with the highest numbers of incarcerated African Americans, such as Iowa, where African Americans are more than eight times as likely as whites to be arrested for marijuana possession, according to the ACLU report.

What impact can we expect Colorado and Washington’s new laws to have on drug-related arrests?

Art: There will be a disproportionate benefit for those who have borne the brunt of marijuana prohibition. African Americans are about three and a half times more likely to be arrested [in the United States for marijuana-related offenses] than their white counterparts; Latinos are about two times more likely. We’re setting a paradigm that hopefully many other states will follow.

One worry has been that the high price of legalized marijuana will encourage a black market and that arrests for illegal distribution could actually increase.

Mariame: I’m very concerned about how this is going to play out on the ground. Young people who are selling drugs because they have no other job opportunities are definitively not going to be able to participate in the formal economy through the dispensaries. Is law enforcement going to go after those young people 20 times harder now?

Art : Yes, I am concerned that distribution charges will increase. Whenever you make change, especially against law enforcement’s status quo, it often finds a way to circumvent that change and maintain its budget. But we haven’t seen anything that will lead us to believe that is taking place right now. And you have to realize that these new marijuana laws are part of a much broader reform movement: Colorado has also been revising its criminal justice laws. The first thing we did once Amendment 64 passed [in Colorado] was to lower criminal penalties for those [between the ages of] 18 and 20 possessing marijuana. So we are already working on preempting any type of net-widening.

What impact will marijuana legalization have on the War on Drugs as a whole?

David: Any changes in the War on Drugs will require continued organizing and agitation, because history has shown that one step forward has also resulted in two steps back [for] communities of color. New York decriminalized marijuana in 1977. That clearly did not lead to the end of the War on Drugs in New York, or lessen its effects on communities of color. Instead, the way the law was written provided the foundation for stop-and-frisk, because the law made it a misdemeanor for marijuana to be in public view, which basically fostered incentives to stop blacks and Latinos and tell them to empty their pockets. So I have a number of concerns about the impact of these reforms on the War on Drugs. To give just one other example: Does decriminalization apply to those who are on probation and being drug-tested?

Mariame: Another concern is whether, as the prices of marijuana start climbing [because of legalization] and [poor] people turn to using other kinds of drugs, those drugs then get painted as the worst possible drugs on the planet. The people who are doing the “worst” drugs somehow always happen to be the most marginalized people within our culture. That’s why it’s so important that we focus on uprooting the whole architecture of the War on Drugs. If we’re not talking about the root issues of racism and classism, there are bound to be unintended consequences.

Art: It’s true that marijuana reform is just one aspect. The whole question is: Why are we criminalizing people for what they decide to put in their bodies? It’s also important to note that the drug war is a federal policy; states receive money from D.C. to engage. When Washington and Colorado legalized marijuana, they basically removed themselves from federal policy regarding marijuana prohibition. I think that will provide momentum to change federal policy regarding other substances. I don’t see the unintended consequence [that the War on Drugs would] somehow become more and more entrenched when it comes to cocaine and other drugs.

Legalization is expected to be a boon for state coffers, as well as wealthy investors and so-called “ganjapreneurs” now flocking to Colorado. But do you think it will create jobs or other economic benefits in communities of color?

David: In some ways this looks like a gentrification of the drug—those who always benefit will still benefit.

Art: I’m not aware of any industries that began with the intention to create jobs for African Americans or poor people of color. No one said that this was some type of panacea for the various root problems that African Americans face. It’s difficult for people to find work if they have a drug conviction on their record, especially a felony, and that’s still the case within the marijuana industry in Colorado—although there was a successful push to make sure that only people with felonies relating to distribution of drugs are kept out. Many of the concerns about who benefits are valid, but I don’t think they should overshadow that we’re moving in the right direction.

What comes next for reformers?

Art: You are likely to see medical marijuana [initiatives] in Florida within a year’s time that will break open the discussion down South and begin reform efforts there. It doesn’t change the day-to-day reality in Louisiana and the South Side of Chicago right now, but persuasive reform efforts will start to plant seeds across the country, as well as in our federal government.

David: What’s fundamental to understanding the War on Drugs and the broader prison industrial complex is that it is a complex—an interrelated system—and changing the laws in two states, while a step forward, does not cut off the legs of this broader system.

Mariame: I’m hopeful that these [laws] are going to have a real positive impact on reducing the prison population. I’m interested to see whether the young people who are selling—and who need to in order to survive and take care of their families—would be able to participate in the formal rather than the informal [drug] economy. I’m interested to understand how the incentives for law enforcement will change in terms of going after our young people. But I tend to be suspicious of using laws to bring social justice, because I don’t think law and justice are the same. That ambivalence is born out of experience of seeing laws pass, and seeing them not do what they were supposed to do for the young people that I care about and love. There’s always been a decoupling of the laws we have on the books from the very oppressive ways that they’re enforced against people who have no political power. So I’m interested to see how this all plays out.

Rebecca Burns is an In These Times assistant editor based in Chicago, where she also covers labor, housing and higher education. Her writing has also appeared in Al Jazeera America, Jacobin, Truthout, AlterNet and Waging Nonviolence. She can be reached at rebecca[at]inthesetimes.com. Follow her on Twitter @rejburns

Although right now it says nothing about future price increases (especially relating to state-specific taxing of the plant), the prices, so far, are actually much cheaper than street prices. Dispensaries carry high grade pot that usually goes for $20 a gram on the street, sometimes more.

Posted by James on 2014-05-13 08:21:51

*voted, rather

Posted by Deb! on 2014-03-01 02:07:30

I votes for legalizing marijuana in Colorado precisely because African Americans are disproportionately incarcerated, but use marijuana LESS.

Posted by Deb! on 2014-03-01 02:06:53

I Washington It's illegal to grow your own. You can only legally buy from the State licensed stores which do not exist yet although it's legal to posses an ounce of marijuana.

Posted by Saar on 2014-02-28 00:28:29

You must be right -- our honorable police never, never would stoop to racism.

Posted by Chris Herz on 2014-02-27 18:42:29

It's not an accident the marijuana legalization is "unbearably white", it is also dominated by libertarians, both politically and financially. Many libertarians support marijuana legalization because it fits their notion of personal liberty and limited government but they have little if any interest in addressing issues of racial and economic justice, particularly in the context of black empowerment.

Many reformers give lip service to the terrible impact of racially-biased drug law enforcement on poor communities of color, but they put their money and political energy behind ensuring the majority of whites will not only be able to consume marijuana with impunity - they will now be able to profit from it too. Given that blacks have historically borne the brunt of all drug law enforcement - including marijuana - and the harms associated with such enforcement, a progressive approach to marijuana reform would seek to repair some of the damage black communities have suffered and put them first in line to reap any rewards from reform. That has not been the case.

While it is true the majority of drug arrests are for marijuana possession, the majority of drug prosecutions and convictions are for sale and/or possession of other drugs - the so-called 'harder drugs'. The 'war on drugs' is as much about those drugs as it is about marijuana but this is not reflected in the U.S. drug reform movement . This article as much as anything is a prime example why.

One of the early leaders in the campaign to stop racially-biased marijuana arrests is an African-American woman, she co-authored the report with Prof. Harry Levine that first shed light on the NYPD practice of manufacturing marijuana arrests. Yet she is never mentioned in any of media articles about the issue, nor acknowledged by any in the marijuana reform community for her contribution. This is just one of many examples of black and Latino drug policy advocates who are deliberately overlooked or ignored by the media - except of course if they have a compelling story to tell about their own drug use and criminalization..........Maybe you might try interviewing us sometime................

Posted by smallworldview on 2014-02-27 17:29:10

So cracking down on drugs in 1970's New York was part of a "Southern Strategy"?

Um, no…it was an attempt to get New York City under some semblance of control as the city had become a violent, unlivable cesspool where drug dealers (mostly black) dealt opening on the street corners, muggings were rampant and people were terrified for their lives.

Posted by Steven Bannister on 2014-02-27 16:02:27

ksweeny - in this case, it doesn't matter whether blacks and hispanics use pot more than whites or not. If what you say is true- that blacks and hispanics get arrested at higher rates- then legalization will benefit them the most. Cause now they won't get arrested at all. THAT is the point that Rustypelican was trying to make.

Posted by Steven Bannister on 2014-02-27 15:56:52

If price hikes, and it's legal, then grow your own...

Posted by Jeremy N Jacqulin McMurray on 2014-02-27 12:05:20

In Washington the State is planning to tax marijuana at about 85% raising the price well over the present street price.

Posted by Saar on 2014-02-27 00:08:49

right now if someone was going to lock up for being hopelessly stupid, my bets on you.

Posted by ksweeny on 2014-02-25 10:18:31

Yeah. They are eight times as likely as whites to be arrested for possession or for anything else. Driving while black seems to be the leading factor, closely followed by walking while black, talking back, looking black, and being uppity. you seem to live in a stereo-typed set of a tv show like The Closer.

Posted by ksweeny on 2014-02-25 10:16:23

"I've seen studies showing that a significantly higher percentages of African Americans use marijuana compared to whites and other ethnic groups." you have? where? because that doesn't jive with the studies i've seen. The studies I've seen say that whites use more, just that African Americans get arrested at higher rates. Please provide your sources.

Posted by ksweeny on 2014-02-25 10:11:15

No you're wrong. EVERYTHING is a racial issue. White people are guilty for waking up on Tuesday. See we have a certain color skin and that means things are disproportionately our fault and that's not racist for no reason in particular.

Posted by JaiGuru on 2014-02-24 21:41:32

Yes yes the big bad white man is again responsible for everything wrong in the world. So sorry. Whatever.

Posted by JaiGuru on 2014-02-24 21:39:13

Really think it's a poor assumption that prices will go up.

The 'legal premium' on pot constitutes almost 50% of the price, and that's with no legal supply structure in the most of the nation. People are allowed to grow a limited amount of their own plants in most cases where we're seeing commercialization and taxation. Anecdotally, I've met folks [from high-supply areas in OH] with sweetheart deals with their suppliers who end up paying about 20% of 'retail' price.

Obviously this effort was not going to rid us of racism. I think it would have been a lot less 'white' to go out and find people of color who see this as an opportunity to dismantle the War on Drugs at an accelerated pace (see: Drug Policy Alliance)- David Simon's desires aside.

Posted by Akshai Singh on 2014-02-24 08:19:22

Sorry, I was present in Washington when all this went down. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Democratic Senator from New York, among most others in the power structure, was quite open in public about the expected results. Those were the days when the southern strategy reigned supreme.

And sure, there were always types like Clarence Thomas today ready to play footsie with the powers-that-be.

Posted by Chris Herz on 2014-02-23 11:53:05

I've seen studies showing that a significantly higher percentages of African Americans use marijuana compared to whites and other ethnic groups. The decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana should benefit African Americans more than other groups on that basis alone. This is not a racial issue.

Posted by Rustypelican on 2014-02-23 11:22:24

Chris it was BLACK leaders who pushed legislatures into passing stiffer penalties not white people, so Nixon Rockefeller agreed to it.........

Posted by condaggit2 on 2014-02-23 10:46:09

Why would prices climb after legalization? Wouldn't it more reasonably follow that they would drop due to overproduction?

Posted by curious on 2014-02-22 01:05:49

YES but stupid is stupid.......you walk down a street saying ganja good jamican ganja and one of those is an undercover police officer.....well you're just hopelessly stupid. and deserve to be locked up

Posted by condaggit2 on 2014-02-21 19:25:59

I remember when Nixon and then Reagan led the charge for heavier sentences for drug offences. It was presented almost openly as a device to bring the blacks back under control -- push back against the civil rights movement.

Posted by Chris Herz on 2014-02-21 14:28:42

So you think cops and law enforcement in general are color blind when making drug arrests? How misinformed can you get.

Posted by John_257 on 2014-02-20 20:33:09

Has it occurred to you maybe Black people are just plain stupid? for trying to sell it openly in front of cops on a street corner or carry it in a car.....or commit a crime and lo and behold an ounce stashed in his $200 sneakers?.

African Americans are more than eight times as likely as whites to be arrested for marijuana possession,

Posted by condaggit2 on 2014-02-20 16:07:41

Concern trolls act concerned.

Posted by FGFM on 2014-02-19 22:25:11

I do not live in either colorado or washington, but 'm seeing a lot of pot from colorado and california here in the sunny south where it has driven prices down, not up. it seems to me that all of those "ganjapreneurs" are as likely to bring lower prices as higher ones.

Posted by H.H. McCool on 2014-02-19 15:59:28

I hear Washington and Colorado are gonna have their own version of a super bowl, lol

Posted by lilbear68 on 2014-02-19 12:02:59

This is an example of the kind of thinking that escapes citizens opposed to legalization. Anyone who blankety accepts the fear mongering of police and the politicians who feed and protect them is aiding in the racial chasms remaining in our nation, and ignores the massive conflicts of interest police in particular have in the War.

And the reality is that the violet and corrupt control the market while kids get ready access. And organized crime gets richer every single day, buys more arms and branches into other violent activities, while LEO's fatten themselves at the trough of asset forfeitures - again mostly small dollars from mostly brown-skinned poor people - and federal funding that somehow ignores the grossly biased arrests and punishments for the same people.

This article is an excellent example for all of us, of the realities our citizens at the bottom of the economic and social ladder face. If we, as a nation, are to have an honest debate about the 40 Year Drug Wars, it must include recognition of the outcomes, and a mindful eye of the deeply ingrained desire of LEO's to except code oppressive power.